12 Awesomely Inspiring Paralympic Moments

Stoke Mandeville Hospital still sits on the outskirts of Aylesbury, about 45 miles northwest of London, at the edge of wide swaths of cropland. It was there, in 1948, that 16 paralyzed men and women — many of them military veterans wounded in World War II — took part in a wheelchair archery competition. It was a concept that quickly evolved into the Paralympic Games as we know them today.

Of course, the modern version of the competition, which concludes Sunday just down the road in England’s capital, are a bit more ambitious. The wheelchairs are still there, but now there are nine events designed specifically around them — including tennis, basketball and fencing — as well as a number of sports like sailing, rowing and sitting volleyball in which wheelchair-bound participants can compete. There’s also blind soccer. And judo. And a host of track-and-field events.

Archery’s still there, too. American Matt Stutzman (above) competed in the event, despite the fact he was born without arms. He holds the bow with his right foot, loads the arrow with his left and draws the cord back with his teeth. On Monday, he won silver. What’d you do?

In honor of Stutzman and similarly high achievers, here are a dozen of the Paralympics' most inspiring moments so far.

North Korean Rim Ju Song finished last in the S6 50-meter freestyle, nearly 18 seconds behind the winner. That he was the first Paralympian from his country is far less impressive than the fact that just one year ago he didn't know how to swim.

Photo: Lefteris Pitarakis/Associated Press

Brazilian Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira won the men’s T44 200 meters. More to the point, at least as far as international attention is concerned, South African Oscar Pistorius lost. After serving as the centerpiece of a pre-Olympic debate over whether his prosthetic limbs provide an unfair advantage, Pistorius did little to aid his cause when, after his loss, he whined about Oliveira’s blades being too long. He later apologized. Race starts at 3:00

Italian Alex Zanardi was a top-ranked race car driver before an awful crash cost him the use of his legs in 2001. His time Wednesday in the H4 individual paracycling event — in which cycles are powered with arms, not legs — was a far cry from the speed of his Formula One car, but it was still good enough for gold.

Britain’s Richard Whitehead came from last place with a stunning burst to smash the world record in the T42 200 meters with a time of 24:38. Impressive: He’s 36. More impressive: The only reason he’s sprinting is that the Paralympics don’t offer events in his primary competition, the marathon — where his personal best is 2 hours and 42 minutes. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP

Jeff Fabry overcame a broken bow — as well as the fact that in his wheelchair-bound scramble to fetch his backup equipment, he had to forfeit every one of his third-round shots – to become the first U.S. archer since 1984 to win a Paralympic gold. (This was the competition in which Stutzman took silver.)

How does one top becoming the youngest-ever Paralympic silver medalist? Thirteen-year-old Australian swimmer Maddison Elliott followed her second-place finish in the S8 50m freestyle with gold in the S8 4x100 relay and bronze in the S8 400m freestyle.

Spain’s Teresa Perales taking silver in the S5 50m freestyle swim was nice. The moment she handed her medal to her young son was enduring.

LeBron James was still in high school the last time Dutch Paralympic tennis ace Esther Vergeer lost a match. This week Vergeer — who has held her sport’s top ranking for 13 years and hasn't lost since 2003 — extended her winning streak to 468 matches, and will go for the gold today. (She will also compete in the doubles final on Saturday.)

Achmat Hassiem is known as “Shark Boy.” That’s because the South African was attacked by a white shark while swimming off the coast of Cape Town, which cost him the use of his legs. It wasn’t even a surprise attack; Hassiem was injured while trying to lure the massive fish away from his younger brother. On Saturday, he took bronze in the S10 100m butterfly.

Ah, the trappings of peace. The Rwandan sitting volleyball team captain Dominique Bizimana was drafted into a Tutsi militia as a teenager and lost a leg to a landmine. One of the Hutus he once fought against, Jean Rukondo, lost a leg of his own, and is now his teammate and fast friend. (Rwanda, the first sub-Saharan team to qualify for the event, did not win a match in four games in the preliminary round.)